Book Club - Author Spotlight

 


Born on this day in 1928, Maurice Sendak revolutionized children's picture books.

His parents were Jewish Polish immigrants, and his childhood was affected by the deaths of many family members in the Holocaust.

He was 12 when he decided to become an illustrator, inspired by Fantasia.  In 1947, he was published in Atomics for the Millions, a textbook written by his high school Physics teacher.  He would continue to illustrate for other authors throughout the 50's.

In 1963, Where the Wild Things Are was released and praised as, "the most distinguished American picture book for children."  Even in 2012 it was voted number one picture book.

The book was the first in a trilogy, followed by In the Night Kitchen and Outside Over There, the latter of which came out in 1981.  The series is meant to represent psychological development from toddler to pre-school to pre-adolescent.

In 1996, Sendak received the National Medal of Arts.




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